Final Fantasy XIII: Ending
by Carrot52
Summary: The ending in Vanille's POV, starts just after Lightning and co become ceith hope you enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

When the blinding white light cleared and my eyes adjusted, I looked around,my heart shrivelled and turned to stone, sinking down to the pit of my stomach.

"After everything I did why?" Fang began "Is this what you meant to happen? All of 'em" distantly Orphan laughed in delight

"After all we went through" I moaned falling to my knees, the source of my despair, my friends, Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Hope had all turned into cei'th, 

_Ghasts_

My mind supplied,their focus failed, theirbody's turned crytilline, their minds, gone. Standing up, the four cei'th turned on Fang attacking her, I gasped looking up at the sound of Fang's coughs

"I guess I deserve it" she coughed "After what I did"she coughed some moreand fell to her knees droppingher spear after a few more attacks.

"Are they my sin to bear for choosing salvation?"

"Please... stop" I said tears welling as I watched Fang beingattacked again and again, before the Ghasts piled on top of my life long friend.

"Stop it" I cried sobbing as Orphan laughed"Give them back!" Then suddenly, the cei'th, my friends we're thrown backwards by some power, I looked up to Fang herself standing up glowering at Orphan, then she clutched her brand, anodd glow silhouetting  
/her body, Fang cried out in pain, bending down on one knee

"Salvation is born of sacrifice" Orphan said as fang was eneloped in light

"Miracles-of misery" the light disapated to reveal Ragnarok"From shattered shards a new crystal legened will arise" he continued as Ragnarok snarled and pounced, bounding off the shield.

"Yes!" Orphan cried as Ragnarok, than pounded on his shield.

"Let anger be your strangth!" With a grunt, Ragnarok tore the magic green shield apart

"Lo! The day of wrath, is come!" Orpan yelled, as light blinded me once more.

"Anger didn't drive us" I said, knowing no one could hear me,but still talking all the same as I was looking back on our adventure, on the times when we were truly angry, and realising one thing

"We just.. had things worth fighting for"

I cracked an eye open, Fang was lying unconscious on the ground in front of a very displeased Orphan

"Yet again. How many times must youfail?" He muttered angrily, as the kinder, more feminine head healed Fang. Shewoke groaning, my relief lasting no more than a second as Orphan bound her hands, and floated her up to eye level.

"Let me go" she said definitely

"Retake the form of Ragnarok" Orphan demanded "Deliver us that which we have too long been denied" Orphan than opened his hand into a fist and tourchered Fang, she she screamed in what I knew from experience, unbearable pain, then he stopped.

"What do you want?" She asked,healing Fang Orphan continued to tourcher her, then heal her right afterwards only to tourcher her again.

"Steep yourself in hatred, let it infuse your soul with the streangth it craves" I watched in horror, I knew what she was going through, then resolve flushed through me and I stood walking up to Orphan slowly, I didn't know what I was going to do,  
but

I knew, I couldn't there and watch as Fang beared the brunt of my mistakes, this wouldn't have happened, if I had just told the truth, guilt soured into resolve, Orphan glanced down at me before saying

"You're offering demands an offering of pain" he said charging power in his hand once more.

"Vanille" Fang gasped "Run"

"No!' I said knowing this is the first time I'm rebelling against Fang, but knowing, that if I didn't we would both die, me from guilt, Fang from injury.

"I swore I wouldn't run away anymore! I would fight and lose than give without even trying!" As soon as my mouth closed three fire balls shot towards Orphan, striking him in the face, he screamed, I gaped around me, then gasped as Fang was thrown  
across

the room, I ran to catch her, but I knew I couldn't. Then a real miracle happened, as Snow caught her, looking none the worse for wear.

"Miracles out misery" Sazh appeared guns in hand, perpetual grin on his face"You've got to be kidding me"

"Yeah Fang" Hopes said casting cure on her "who'd be dumb enough to swallow that crock"

then Lightning walked up, gunblade in her right hand, Fang's spear in her left as Snow set Fang down on her feet.

"Sure we've all had better weeks"

"You're alive" I stated stunned

"But you can't be" Fang continued, also stunned

"Could be more fal'cie smoke and mirrors" Lighting joked (at least I think she joked, you could never tell with her, she was always so serious)

"Fang" Snow started, I'm sorry

"We'd made you go it alone" Loghtning continued holding her soear out for her

"Second time now isn't it?" Fang tsked before grasping her weapon, the two women nodded before facing Orphan, who was still screaming in pain.

"But, where were you?" I asked, aiming the question at Lighting

"Somewhere cold and dark, just thinking about everything that had happened up until now" it was Hope who answered "And then, and thenit was like-" he paused, as if trying to find the words, it was Snow who found them for him

"It was like, I hada glimpse of the future" he said happily "Everyone was smiling and laughing" he dug out Serah's tear, beaming at it

"Even Sherah. Heh, even Light" Lightning looked astonished at the last bit

"I don't know, it was a knew focus or something" I spun to face him "You know, I'm thinking, didn't really make sense of course. I mean, knowing we were knowing worm bait and all. But as luck would have it, next I know,I feel somebodypushing

meright along" he grinned as the chocobo chick, who hid in Sazh's afro, came up chirping, I laughed slightly and waved to it as he burrowed itself back up again.

"You were there to Fang" Lightning said "Same size, all of us, together to the end" I grinned happliy and turned to Fang, who smiled back and looked up, no doubt thinking, my mind wandered to the aftermath of my eidolon's rise, she had hugged me fiercely.  
/"Listen" she'd said "You're not alone anymore, we've got a new family now, we stick together,you hear me"

"Yes I promise" I'd said. Ilooked to her now, and smiled, thinking of that promise

"We promised, didn't we?" Fang smiled, but the smile dropped instantly as Orphan's screams rose to an unbearable tone, he sank into the pool. 

_The mark, of a l'cie, a symbol of the focus we all shared, the mark of the fate, we all shared,proof of the promise we all made._

Snow turned to me

"The heroes, never die, come on, we've got world to save"

"If we have the power to destroyCocoon, then we have the power to save it, you say you want your day of wrath do you, well it's coming right up!"

"Time to give the people, what they really want" Sazh said, Orphan screamed once more, as his hand disappeared under the pool a momentary silence fell over a little shape with my hands, I prayed, prayed that this would work, prayed that

my sacrifice, would not be in vain, then I turned to the others

"We can do it, I know we canwe've made it this far"

"Right" Lightning saidI aimed the next bit at Fang

"Let's make a real miracle happen!" Fang smiled

"Lady luck's sure ain'ton his side" she said, re-adjusting her grip on her spear.A laugh cut through our resolve, it was high picthed and creul, not at all like the deep anger of the masculine head, or the soft pretty voice of the feminine

head. Beams of light shot through the pool as Orphan's true form was reavealed, it'sface wasstark white in contrast to it's gold, clocklike body, gold outlined it's pure whiteeyes, and a gold version of the Cocoon symbol was branded

on it's forehead.

"You overreach yourselves" it said in a trancelike voice

"No, we overreach you" Lightning replied

"Is that so?" It asked

"You don't believe anything, you gave up on life before you were even born" she answered (although how you can you can give up on life before you even had consciousness is beyond me)

"Sat poisoning Cocoon on the inside, waiting for someone to come and destroy you" she continued ignoring the anger, slowly coming upon it's face

"Sure, you think the end of the worldis salvation. All you care about is death's release! So take it! And leave the rest of us alone! We don't think like that, when we think there is no hope left, then wekeep looking until find some, maybe

Cocoon is past saving, but it's our home, and we'll protect it or die trying! We live to make the impossible, possible that is our focus!" Orphan screamed in rage and triumph, then grinned as he attacked, we allfought desperately until we won.

Orphan screamed in pain, as it's body was destroyed after wehad deltthe final blow in one massive attack, then suddenly, the room fell away, and we were were floating. Shouts followed, I grasped Fang's hand tightly.

"Fang! Vanille!" Snow's shout made me look up, I looked down quickly, guilt pierced my stomach, we were leaving them, I didn't want to leave them, Hope's stare burned the back of my head.

"Vanille?" I looked up at Fang, her gaze searched my face, she knew me so well, Ihad no doubt she knew my feelings.

 _Wishes can come true_

I thought

 _But, not if you wait for miracles_

"Ready" I said

 _Miracles are things that we makefor ourselves_

I grasped Fang's other hand, my brand burned, my cells burned as Fang and I merged

 _Here, and now._


	2. Chapter

Ragnarok landed on a random building, having just been born, he stood and roared, Cocoon, was falling, and it was his job to save, to create a pillar of crystal to prevent it from smashing into Gran Pulse. Starting at a run, he ran to the apex of whereCocoon  
was falling, using his great powers, he created arms like branches of lava to catch at the bottom of Cocoon. On the surface of Pulse a pillar of crystal started, meeting with Cocoon, creating branches that enveloped Cocoon to keep hold of it.

Butthe original pillar was too thin, too soft, it wouldn't hold, already it was falling. Ragnarok, thrust his head out. Charging his power, he thickened the pillar in one shot, his job done, Ragnarok relaxed into the pillar, letting the two  
women have peace.

The first thing I remember is looking up at Cocoon, I smiled, it was saved, Fang and I had saved it, that was when I realised, I wasn't tangible, I was, in a sense a ghost, but oddly enough, I was fine with it, I didn't mind that I was in a sense, dead.I  
looked down and frowned, Lightning, Snow, Hope and Sazh, were in crystal

 _No_

I thought savagely

 _They shouldn't be crystal, they deserve to live, they need to live, even Hope_

I floated upto them

 _Wake up_

I whispered, amazingly, they woke

"They did it, they saved the world" Lightning said

"No" Snow corrected "They gave us a new one"

"That's one gift I'll forgive 'em for not wrapping" Sazh joked

"Heh, yeah" Hope said in reply

 _This is as much as we can do, the rest is up to you_

I said to them

"Does this mean we... completed our focus"

"Cocoon's seen better days that's for sure" Snow said

"Yeah, and I'd say that qualifies as a demolition, focus complete" Sazh collaborated

 _Heh, whatever you want to believe_

Fang said next to me

"It really is a miracle" Lightning said smiling

"My brand! It's gone" Hope said in suprise, alarmed the others looked to where their brands were, only to suprised, as there was nothing there.

 _It's easy to lose sight of something in a world as wide as this one_

I said

 _But if you keep going you're sure to find something you're looking for-sooner or later_

I smiled as the Lightning and Snow were reunited with Serah, and Sazh was reunited with his son Dahj. But then, a shadow came over them, I watched helplessly as Lightning was taken away, reluctantly I fell into the crystal dreams. I dreamt of my childhood,ofthe  
war, of my hopes and dreams, of my adventure with the others, I dreamt of Serah's adventure, helped her, and then watched her die. 

I woke in a plain room, to my left a bedside table held a lamp, to my right was fang sleeping on plain bed, she, like me, was no longer in crystal.

"Wha-what the, where am I?" I asked to the air

"You're in the cathedral of Luxerion, the city of light" said a girls voice, I looked to where the voice had come from, a girl was standing in front of the door, the first thing I noticed about her, was that she looked like a younger version of Lightning  
/"Who, are you" I croaked from unused vocal chords, the girl smiled

"I'm Lumina" she said.


End file.
